1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to sheet feed devices that feed a sheet of recording medium stored in a tray in a predetermined direction and to an image recording apparatus comprising such sheet feed devices.
2. Description of Related Art
A known sheet feed device feeds sheets of recording medium stored in a tray to a recording unit one at a time while performing sheet separation. The sheet feed device comprises a feed mechanism. The feed mechanism comprises an arm supported on a shaft such that the arm pivots about the shaft in a pendulum motion, a feed roller rotatably attached at a free end of the arm, and gears rotatably supported in the arm. A rotational force of a motor is transmitted, via the gears, to the feed roller. When the feed roller rotates while contacting an uppermost one of the sheets stored in the tray, the uppermost sheet is fed in a predetermined direction. A separation member positioned downstream of the feed roller in the predetermined direction separates the uppermost sheet from a stack of sheets in the tray. Then, the uppermost sheet is fed to a recording unit.